Members of the European Parliament's employment social affairs committee have voted by 35 votes to 13 to ban UK employees from working more than 48 hours per week.

The rule-which will affect three million workers - means employees cannot work more than 48 hours a week regardless of their personal circumstances.

John Cridland, director general of the Confederation of British Industry urged European ministers to allow staff the option to work in excess of these hours.

"Some people want longer hours, some people don't," argued Cridland. "The opt-out gives them a choice."

"These amendments are misguided. In hard times, somebody may want to work extra hours to help support their family. Staff in a company that's fighting for survival may choose to work longer hours.

Meanwhile, the Trade Unions Congress (TUC) welcomed the decision to scrap the optout.

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: "Our long hours culture - which has been shored up by the opt-out - has risked the health of many workers. Regularly working more than 48 hours increases the chance of suffering from heart disease and stress-related illness, as well as diabetes and other ailments."

"The vast majority of long hours workers want a better work-life balance and are hungry for change. "

Party spirit prevails

The majority of organisations (60 per cent) will still provide a Christmas party for their staff this year despite the impending recession.

The initial findings of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development's (CIPD) Annual Reward Management Survey 2008 show that private sector companies are still the keenest to embrace the festivities with 77 per cent still likely to provide a Christmas party or lunch this year - a small shift from84 per cent in 2007.

However, the voluntary and public sectors fare less well. While 51 per cent of organisations in the voluntary sector will reward staff with a Christmas party, this figure has decreased by 12 per cent year-on-year.

Similarly to previous years, public sector organisations are the most reticent to offer Christmas perks with only 24 per cent likely to provide a party or lunch this festive seasoncompared with 26 per cent last year.

The survey also shows the the size of an organisation is a factor - over 82 per cent of firms with up to 49 employees will throw a festive party or lunch compared to only 37 per cent of organisations with over 5000 people.

The full survey will be presented in its entirety at the CIPD's Annual Reward Conference in February 2009.

A Freedom of Information Act request by the Sunday Telegraph found the total amount awarded was £7m higher than 2004/5. Of the total, unfair dismissal awards made up the majority of payouts, increasing from £19.8m in 2004/5 to £26.6m in 2006/7.

Separate figures from the Tribunal Service indicate the number of claims lodged has climbed sharply in the same period, from 156,000 in 2004 to 238,000 in 2006.

Sexual discrimination claims nearly doubled, from14,250 to 28,153 in 2006/7, although on the whole, sex, race and disability discrimination payouts have remained steady over the same period.